Hazardous Waste

Management
FUNDAMENTALS
 What is
hazardous waste?
•Waste that is
• Ignitable
• Flammable
• Corrosive
• Reactive
• Toxic
• Partitioning (movement) of
hazardous waste from source to:
• Air (volatilization)
• Water (solubility)
• Soil (sorption)
• Biota (bioconcentration)

Model depicting different pathways through which contaminant movement occurs – known as
Conceptual Site Model (CSM)
Source: Casarett & Doull. Risk Assessment Chapter 4.
Properties of hazardous waste
•Solubility
• Extent to which hazardous compound dissolves in a solvent (mg/L)
•Vapour pressure
• Pressure exerted by the liquid at equilibrium with air
• Raoult’s Law
• Henry’s Law
•Partitioning coefficients
• Octanol-water (KOW)
• Soil-water (Kd)
• Organic carbon content-soil (KOC)
• Biota-water (Bioconcentration factor, BCF)
Movement of contaminants across
different media

Source: www.geology.isu.edu
Sorption and volatilization
•Factors affecting sorption
• Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
• Oxidation-Reduction Potential
(ORP)
• Electrostatic attraction/
repulsion (corresponding to
adsorption/ desorption)
• Hydrogen bonding
• Dipole-dipole interaction
• VanderWaal’s attraction force
• Covalent bonds
• Coulombic forces
•Volatilization – Refers to mass transfer of contaminant
from liquid to gaseous phase
•Contributing factors:
• Vapour pressure (Henry’s law)
• Temperature
• Mixing of waste
• Contact area
• Ventilation rate (closed or open container)
• Rate limited mass transfer
• Dilution
Dow’s Equation
Hamaker’s Equation
Fate and
transport of •Advection – Contaminant physically carried by
medium (linear velocity)
contaminants in
groundwater

• Differential transport •Diffusion – Contaminant moves along

equations used to concentration gradient
describe these processes
• Analytical solutions given •Dispersion – Groundwater carries contaminant
by through tortuous path (greater spread of
• Plume model contaminant)
• Pulse model
• Wilson & Miller equation

Source: Groundwater transport www.Ideo.columbia.edu

Transport of •Advection
contaminants • Advective flux (bulk movement of fluid)
through air •Dispersion
• Concentration in air at any time found from analytical
solutions to differential transport equations
• Puff model (instantaneous or puff release)
• Similar to movement of • Plume model
contaminants through • Pasquill and Gilford model
groundwater;
advection, diffusion and
dispersion contribute to
movement of
contaminants through
air

Source: www.sts.bwk.tue.nl

Movement of contaminant plume through air

Thank you!